KANSAS CITY -- It didn't take long for White Sox designated hitter Cody Asche to contribute during an 8-3 victory over the Royals on Thursday.
Asche doubled home two runs in the fourth inning, giving him three RBIs for the season and raising his average above .100 in this miserable 5-for-49 start. He was back in the lineup on Thursday after manager Rick Renteria pinch-hit for Asche with Matt Davidson on Wednesday night, when Asche did not run to first base on a third-strike pitch in the dirt during his lone at-bat in the third.
Prior to Thursday's win, Asche directly acknowledged the issue without stating any specifics.
"There's standards that need to be set if you're going to be a White Sox player," Asche said. "If you don't meet the standards, sometimes the manager has to take action. Last night was the case. I don't foresee it being a problem today or moving forward, or ever again."
"We just have certain things we want to follow through with, and he understood," Renteria said. "And I'll leave it at that."
When asked about another slump of this significance in his career, Asche smiled and said he tries to forget about those hitless moments. He was just glad to be able to add to the 11-hit-attack on Thursday.
"It's not so much the frustrating part looking up and seeing the numbers. It's the barely missed balls," Asche said. "The third at-bat, fouled a heater straight back. Last at-bat with [Kelvin Herrera], barely got beat right there.
"That's more frustrating than the numbers part. That's the hard part about the game is eliminating the frustration after it happens so you can re-focus next time your number is called."
Wednesday's minor issue quickly became past history for both Asche and Renteria.
"One hundred percent. Ricky and I talked about it," Asche said. "Water under the bridge."